California Border and then back to AZ

Well, this is pretty much where this story ends. We stayed overnight in a hotel in Ensenada. Not much to speak of and definitely not a place to aim for. But if you've got to pass through, Ensenada is a decent place to get some food, gas and a hotel.

It rained on and off. The next day we made the drive up to the border (Tecate if I remember correctly). They let motorcycles go ahead of cars (quite civilized, the Mexicans) and since it was raining I said goodbye to the four wheelers, agreeing to meet up somewhere north.

Here's the line up waiting to cross the border.

The ride back to AZ was uneventful. It was pretty freaking cold, given the rain and all. But once I got well into Imperial County, east of the coast and out of the hills the sun came out, the desert stretched out and it was just suburbia and slab.

Final shot at the Uhual place in Yuma where we'd left the 4 runner. Brian headed to Phoenix and Charlie and I drove to Tucson.

Push for Ensenada

Here's a picture Charlie took while I tried with broken hand and baling wire clutch to get the mule started. Remember, no clutch. So you ram it in to gear and start cranking. Believe it or not, the starter has the torque to push the bike forward, assuming you're not rutted in loose stone. Which, I was :)

Just for the record, here's the baling wire clutch.















Anyway, we got one more last day of really good offroading. We aimed for a graded road that would lead us back to the highway, but somehow managed to find ourselves on a track that ran up, down, thru and over basically every type of terrain you'll find in Baja. At one point we were basically following a wash. I was riding pretty well and enjoying every bit of it.

The burros seemed happy to see their german cousin.

We did eventually find a road out.

At this point we'd gone about 150 miles or so and the next gas wasn't until El Rosario, another 50 miles or so.

So we finally tapped in to the extra gas.

(What's funny about the picture is that Charlie took it at the exact instant another car was passing by. There was no traffic on this road. I could have sat down in the middle of the road and eaten a sandwich and not had to move for a vehicle. Dude's got timing!)

All gassed up, we headed North to El Rosario and the mess that North Baja Hwy 1 has become.

 First, the good part (this one makes a pretty good background for your computer).

Then the not so good. The traffic from El Rosario North is stupidly bad. You can't blame the Mexicans for developing the area, and you can't expect them to suddenly start building roads (I mean, it's Baja! We love it cause there aren't any roads). And I guess you can't expect them to also suddenly not be macho. So everybody is playing chicken with everyone else (on a two lane highway choked with traffic in the rain). And here's the result.

Makes you want to turn around and go south again!